Art Matters Festival: What’s Up and Why You Should Go

With the promise of another season ripe with stuffy sinuses, sketchy roads and sketchier parking spaces behind us knock on wood, March is now upon us, ready to provide us with all this wonderful city has to offer. Don’t get me wrong, even during our snowy season, the desire to warm up the spirits of Montrealers can’t be denied what with all the events, markets and festivals one can partake in. But, as a student myself, I do have a soft spot for initiatives by and for students, which is exactly what the Art Matters Festival is all about. And guess what, it’s happening now.

Created by and for Concordia University students, this non-profit festival has been and continues to be a great platform for supporting emerging artists and potential curators alike in the Concordia community. Spanning over the course of three weeks during this coming month, here’s what you can expect to see.

(DIS)CONNECTMarch 3rd 19h-1h
Espace POP (5587 av. du Parc)

Nuit Blanche has it’s fair lot of stuff going on, but if a little trip in Mile-End territory strikes your fancy, don’t miss out on this interdisciplinary exhibition, bridging together contemporary art and the viewer by re-inventing what it means to create as an artist. With the desire to give visual form to different fields such as neuroscience, biology and other science related fields, this expo promises a unique experience for its viewer.
For more info, click HERE.

Exhibition exploring the relation between artist and their work, mediated by time and the ambiguous transformation process a piece of art will undergo, this exhibition is presented in collaboration with Festival d’Art Souterrain.
For more info about Art Souterrain, click HERE. For more info about Blueprints, click HERE

An exploration of the paradox around the notion of softness, Tender Teeth promises a quirky and whimsical exploration of the feelings that softness can inspire, all the way to its frail and decaying nature. A promising treat.
For more info, click HERE.

BOOKWORKSVernissage March 9th 18h-20h
Exhibition March 3rd- 17th
Mile End Gallery (5345 av. du Parc)
“Not an art book, nor a book on art, artist books are artworks in themselves.” As enigmatic as it seems, one would do good to explore through this expo what it means to read a book, as it redefines the very notion of what a book is supposed to be.
For more info, click HERE

Crafting is not solely associated with physical labour; its trace can also be found within storytelling and mythology. Come and explore the different notions revolving around craft and narration through the works of many.
For more info, click HERE

IT’S ALL I HAVE TO BRING TODAYVernissage March 15th 19h-21h
Exhibition March 9th-24th
Studio XX (4001 Berri, suite 201)

Joining together seven different artists, this project hopes to open a new space for stories that might normally escape the eye. In a society where we are valued for our productivity, here we look deeper in our contemporary experience of self, isolation and struggle for self-preservation. For anyone who’s down for some good heartfelt storytelling.
For more info, click HERE

OUT OF BALANCEVernissage March 16th 18h-20h
Exhibition March 8th-18th
Galerie Espace (4844 boul. St. Laurent)

Showcasing the creative and destructive potential of being out of balance, this collaboration of different mediums in an immersive space promises to explore these potentials through different themes relative to the human experience.
For more info, click HERE

THE ART OF SINKINGVernissage March 21th 18h-20h
Exhibition March 12th-24th
GHAM+DHAFE (3425 St. Catherine E.)

The Art of Sinking pushes us to explore the absurdity of existence all while cracking a laugh at it. Inspired by bathos all while exploring the purpose of comedy in art, this exhibition is a must for your fine appreciator of the subversive and the absurd.
For more info, click HERE

This exhibition is concerned with the ability for art to record and conserve human movements in space. Exploring different notation systems in different mediums, Art Crush in Time promises an intimate experience for its viewer, one that might even leave a mark in its own.
For more info, click HERE

Every learning experience presupposes a learner and a teacher. Pedagogy wishes to bridge this gap. By exposing an array of works permeated with learning experiences and moments of pedagogy, dialogue between audiences, viewers and curators can be facilitated.